Amazon Women

Did Amazon women exist, or are they a myth? The Amazon women story begins with eight-century poet, Homer. His work, the Iliad, told of fierce women who lived during the bronze age, 500 years earlier, who mated with male enemies and kept only the female babies they birthed. Stories of Amazons continued in the writings of poets, authors, and depicted by artists in paintings, sculptures and pottery. The stories placed these settlements of warrior women in the areas surrounding the Black Sea to western Siberia. Many of the tales arose in Greek mythology, associating Amazons with Hercules, Jason and the Argonauts, centaurs, and Atlantis. Amazons were depicted as imposing women, tall, fierce, waring upon great steads, frequently with bows as weapons. Some descriptions claimed Amazon women removed their left breasts to improve their prowess with the bow. All these accounts certainly gives clues to a myth of fantasy.

Despite the illusion of pure myth, I believe Amazons existed, although not of the extremes written about in the myriad of tales about them. Amazons were ordinary women who fought alongside their male counterparts in battle. They were trained to fight, but were the equal of men, not superior. Enemies unaccustomed to women in battle might certainly perceive a woman mounted on a large horse, dressed in warrior garb similar to men, and posed to release a deadly arrow from a bow, to be extraordinary in both stature and fearsomeness . Accounts of these encounters, with a few embellishments, gave rise to the Amazon legend. These were the women of the Scythian and Sarmatian cultures. Those cultures dominated the regions claimed for the Amazons in Greek mythology, and their warriors utilized horses and the bow for battle. Burial sites for those cultures also adds further evidence for the germ of the Amazon myth. Archaeologists found that about one-third of all Scythian women were buried with weapons and have war injuries like the men. The women were also buried with knives and daggers. These are the ancient Amazons…the equals of men.

Interesting side note: The Amazon River is named after Amazon women reportedly encountered during explorations there.

Where are the Amazons Now?

The photo below is from the Apollo 18 mission to the moon. You can clearly see that our astronauts were being held captive by Amazonian women.